My latest CopperCap WaterBlock

One of my latest copper cap waterblocks, total time
to make is around 2 hours, and Cost is around: $5.50

Now If only I can take better craptastic pics...


I needed some new quiet cooling for my HTPC i was
building, and settled on building a new waterblock
to help with that effort. Since I had made another
copper cap block a while back, I figured I would do
it again. This time the insides would be slightly
different, and it would be made (sort of) low profile.

I started with the usual 2" copper cap, (and dremel)
of course:


Of which the top... MMmmm.. say... around 2/3 is removed:


then sanded it with my trusty belt sander, like I did in
my other copper cap waterblock thread:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=328540

Inside, I soldered 3 lengths of 18Ga copper wire that had
been given a slight curve. I figured that this would help
keep the water moving in a somewhat outward moving spiral:


After a little grind and polishing:


the top of this block is made from a 2" brass finger pull:


to which I had soldered at the center a 3/8"ID copper
tubing, and along 2 sides at the edges would be 2 - 1/4"
copper tubes Like this:


The the reason for doing it this way is to provide a
"manifold" effect for adding other blocks. In my HTPC will
be a kind of "bleed off" waterlevel indicator, which will
be attached to one side. The other outlet will be for the
chipset blocks. not pics of that setup yet.

the Brass fingerpull is glued in with some JBQuick Weld,
and was allowed to dry overnight. When everything was dry
and had been tested under pressure, the edges of the
brass fingerpull were sanded down to be smooth and even
with the sides of the copper cap.


The inside gap for the water flow is approximately the same
height as teh copper wire (around 1/16"), and is easily
handled by the cheap 115Gph pond pumps I like use.

Mounting is provided by the mounting bracket from a
CoolerMaster HS I purchased for around $9 at Frys Elextroniks.


Even though I have removed the Mounting Bracket from this,
I can and will still use the HeatSink somewhere else, to
no loss of money on that!

Copper cap with the mounting bracket installed:


Cost?
coppercap: $3.80 from Home Depot
Brass fingerpull: $1.25 From Home Depot
left over copper tube: Free
JBweld (leftover from another project): Free
and its hard to add value to the mounting bracket because
it was a Left over item and I will be using the heat sink
somewhere else... so: Free
Solder: Free

Good Deal! :: total cost is around $5.50 after taxes..

I forgot to add.. I do not have any real temperature comparisons
with this block. The temps before, on the conventional AL heatsink
were running around 48 - 52C in the bios after running F@H for 3 or
28 hours ( ) After installing this waterblock, I have been running
a steady 43C loaded and running F@H for the last 2 days. Temps
prolly should be lower, but given what it is all located in, I think it is
more than enough.

sweet

Looks good man, got to love anything homemade that works .

What is the difference in temps that you are seeing?

:edit: I had my reply window open to long... the temps look good, and the best part is how much quieter your rig became .

ghetto all the way, its been a long time since I saw a copper cap block...

Yall think I should actually put some AS5 on there? Since I have not used anythign yet...
PSS: it is still dry!!

Flip-Mode said:

ghetto all the way, its been a long time since I saw a copper cap block...

Click to expand...

Yup, ghettocomp continues to earn his name. This does bring me back to the days when overclockers hacked stuff together and watercoolers made their own water blocks. True modding is when you make something yourself instead of buying it.

ghettocomp said:

Yall think I should actually put some AS5 on there? Since I have not used anythign yet...
PSS: it is still dry!!

Click to expand...

That would be a really good idea.

Nice Job !

funnyperson1 said:

........ True modding is when you make something yourself instead of buying it.

Click to expand...

Reasons I make much of my own waterblocks? Heh heh heh..

-- Cheaper
-- 1-2 weeks for mail order VS 1-2 days to finish most little things
-- Satisfaction of doing something with my own hands, Even if it is not quite right..

and the list could go on

EDIT: After realizing that I had the block on the CPU for the last couple of days with no TIM on it, I Just applied some AS5 and.... no changes in temps oh well.. it must have matched the IHS perfectly or close to that. Temps right now are around 42-44 (its hot in here right now) so not much of a change... Meh, its only been an hour

Bah ! Let the AS settle in.

Folding should do it in 2 days for ya.

I'm thinking 2-3 C drop.

WarriorII said:

Bah ! Let the AS settle in.

Folding should do it in 2 days for ya.

Click to expand...

Very likely. I figured it had not settled in. but I should let it heat up a little maybe?

Edit: I am also thinking of removing the block again, and maybe painting the
thing.. a band of black or red around the exposed sides would maybe make it
look a little less ghetto?

Methinks I think too much...

Yup.. My hotter temps were from no TIM oops! I was very lucky there!
running cooler even now. Idle is 32-34C and fully lloaded temps have reduced to 38-40C.

Flip-Mode said:

ghetto all the way, its been a long time since I saw a copper cap block...

Click to expand...

yea its ghetto, but did you ever see a better looking Copper cap waterblock?

Those are some really good temps.

My WW gets 34C Folding 24/7, so for a block Cap so "Technical Designed"
I'm really impressed with your results.

GJ !




PS:

How flat is the base on that cap?
Is it "rounded" like caps usually are?

or did you lap it at all?

WarriorII said:

How flat is the base on that cap?
Is it "rounded" like caps usually are?

or did you lap it at all?

Click to expand...

It is lapped. broke down the bottom with a belt sander, and then finished the lapping by hand. The edges of the cap are rounded, but they have nothing to do with the CPU. so it all works well!

I've gotta give you credit ghetto for keeping the copper top alive and well. This just goes to show that there are things you can do yourself if you have the tools, time, knowhow, and patience.

It is for similar reasons that I built my own wood case. All said and done, I designed it and made it with my own two hands the way i wanted it and am really happier with it than any commercial case.

I must also thank you for harkening back to a time (and I know my boy WarriorII knows what I'm talking about) when men were men and made their own waterblocks while consuming beef jerky as their harem looked on. A time when AS adhesive was an extraneous purchase, real men put dabs of Super Glue on the edges with the Artic Silver (no need for confusing numbers) in the middle of their graphics core. A time when a CPU duct was not a purchase, but a cardboard box. A time when a man fried his egg on an Athlon XP, and the chip lived to tell the tale. A time when a man made a direct-die water cooler from a sunny D bottle.

Overclocking has become professional, but sometimes....you need a little ghetto in your comp.

Wow, great job. This is my first time seeing a copper cap waterblock, I am impressed. It even cools better than my piece of crap aluminum block I'm stuck with right now.

That is a really nice piece of handywork you have made, ghettocomp. I freely admit that my only exposure to any type of watercooling so far has been pics/stories I have seen in these threads. Having only seen shiny, mass-produced blocks with tolerances measured in microns and anodized/chromed/polished to mirror finishes, while boasting performance in graphs and charts, it is humbling to see what at first looked like something some people would consider "recyclable scrap", casually outperform a decent portion of the "Extreme Hardware" that clog up bandwidth across the planet. Perhaps even more important is the responses to your post. Not a bit of fanboyism (yes, that is a word now, thank you very much ) nothing but well deserved respect and kudos.

Top notch.

that took me so long to work out ! that pic with the finger pull inserted to the cap is very misleading as it appears as if there couldnt be a gap ! ... all the confusion aside i understand the construction now. nice job mate !